Coping with Grueling Eldercare: 7 Survival Tips You Need to Know

Elderly caregivers have a 63% mortality
rate than peers without such responsibility and they're also more likely to
encounter depression, anxiety and long-term medical issues (i.e., heart
disease, cancer, diabetes or arthritis);

Caring for an ill or aging relative plays a
significant role in 25% of divorces and/or separations;

Over 44 million Americans (21% of the adult
population) provide unpaid care to an elderly or disabled person 18 years or
older;

As Americans over 65 double in the next 20
years, a majority will care for a senior relative at some point during their career;

More than half of employed caregivers are
forced to make changes at work as a result (i.e., going in late, leaving early,
reduced hours).

Now compound these
exhausting imperatives if you have difficult to unmanageable parents!

I even coined the
term, un-cope-able, to denote unspeakable trials endured for 54-plus years as
the only child of an intractable duo.
Whereas a cooperative aging mother or father willingly engages in
dialogues to plan and action the next chapter of life, a belligerent elder
refuses all such reasonable conversation.